Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
20km away. But this, officials estimate, could take US$500 million and over a decade to execute. And time, for
many residents, is running out. Watch the space. Soon, Cerro de Pasco might not be there at all: a victim, like
many Peruvian mining towns, of its own success.
Junín & Around
064 / ELEV 4125M
An important independence battle was fought at the pampa of Junín, 55km due north of
La Oroya. This is now preserved as the 25-sq-km
Santuario Histórico Chacamarca
,
where there is a monument 1.5km off the main road.
In Junín village, basic cold-water
hospedajes
charge around S15 for basic rooms.
About 10km beyond the village is the interesting
Lago de Junín
, which, at about
30km long and 14km wide, is Peru's largest lake after Titicaca. More than 4000m above
sea level, it is the highest lake of its size in the Americas and is known for its birdlife.
Some authorities claim one million birds live on and around the lake at any one time.
These include one of the western world's rarest species, the Junín Grebe and, among the
nonwinged inhabitants, wild
cuy
. It's a little-visited area and recommended for anyone in-
terested in seeing water and shorebirds of the high Andes. The lake and its immediate sur-
roundings are part of the 53-sq-km
Reserva Nacional Junín
. Visit by taking a
colectivo
5km north from Junín to the hamlet of
Huayre
, from where a 1.5km path leads to the
lake. Otherwise it can be quite hard to actually visit or even see the lake as it is mostly
surrounded by swampy marshlands.
The wide, high plain in this area is bleak, windswept and very cold: bring warm, wind-
proof clothing. Buses ply the route via Junín quite often: watch for intermittent herds of
llama, alpaca and sheep.
Cerro de Pasco (Cerro)
063 / POP 66,860 / ELEV 4333M
With its altitude-sickness-inducing height above sea level and its icy, rain-prone climate,
this dizzyingly high altiplano mining settlement is never going to be a favorite traveler
destination. First impressions however are still striking: houses and streets spread haphaz-
ardly around a gaping artificial hole in the bare hills several kilometers wide. The Spanish
